Maybe you’ve heard the term “surrogate” or “surrogacy”, but you don’t know what it means or what it entails.

To put it simply, surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman (i.e. surrogate) carries a child or children, for another couple or person throughout the duration of a pregnancy. The people who seek out surrogacy to build their families are couples (hetero or same-sex) or individuals who cannot carry out a pregnancy to term on their own, or become pregnant at all.

Traditional Surrogacy

In a traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is both the egg donor and the actual surrogate who carries out the pregnancy. This means that the surrogate will also be the biological mother to the child she is carrying for the couple. This type of surrogacy is typically only used if the biological mother’s eggs cannot be used due to infertility issues or for male same sex couples.

Using a procedure known as intrauterine insemination, a fertility doctor will use sperm from the biological father and transfer into the uterus of the egg donor/surrogate where the embryo will fertilize naturally or through in vitro fertilization (IVF). If IVF is used, the surrogate must also undergo an egg retrieval, and embryo transfer. Once retrieved, the eggs are combined with the father’s sperm and the embryos are transferred back to the surrogate.

Gestational Surrogacy

In a gestational surrogacy, the surrogate’s eggs will not be used, and she will not be the biological mother to the child. The surrogate is only providing the womb for the embryo to develop into a healthy pregnancy. While the intended parents may choose to use a donor’s eggs, the eggs will not be from the surrogate.

Using the biological father’s sperm (or sperm donor or donated embryos) and the biological mother’s eggs (or donor eggs), embryos will be created. Once fertilized, an embryo is transferred to the surrogate’s uterus using the process of in vitro fertilization.

Due to various legal aspects of traditional surrogacy, Family Source Consultants only facilitates gestational surrogacy arrangements.

For more information traditional or gestational surrogacies or to begin the application process, contact us today!

Staci Swiderski, CEO and owner of Family Source Consultants has been involved in the field of reproductive medicine since 2002. Staci has vigorously grown the comprehensive egg donation and gestational surrogacy agency to become a worldwide leader in the third-party reproduction field. Staci is a former intended parent herself. She and her husband welcomed their son via gestational surrogacy in 2005. Additionally, Staci had the experience of assisting an infertile couple (AKA Recipient Parents) build their family through her efforts as an egg donor, with her donation resulting in the births of their son and daughter.